Electric Drive for Throttle Control of Centrifugal Pump System

Centrifugal pumping plants are an integral part of water distribution systems, irrigation networks, oil and chemical industries. An electric drive system for throttle control of a centrifugal pumping plant is proposed. The drive system consists of a stepper motor, pump, pipeline, pressure regulation valve, fluid reservoir, and control equipment. The system is developed to provide the possibility for smooth and reliable positioning of a ball type valve for a centrifugal pump. To evaluate the developed electric drive, a series of tests have been conducted. Tests proved that the designed system is accurate at the throttling control mode. The electric drive can be used both for pressure and flow regulation and at the same time can provide a relatively simple way for remote monitoring of valve position that can be installed along the pipelines in the water distribution system. The control system is based on the Arduino board hardware with a custom firmware developed for this particular system.